It is December 1st! I am very excited that it is finally December! I love Christmas and look forward to the Christmas season all year long! It took awhile of me to get into it this year but as soon as it hit December 1st my internal clock struck to Christmas time! I am so excited! :) I have been listening to Christmas songs and watching as the town is being transformed into a little Christmas village with all the lights on store windows and homes. I found out that most people in Italy don't start decorating until December 8th because it is the Immaculate Conception. It is a public holiday so it is the perfect time for people to put up their decorations. Christmas just makes me happy! :) And as I write this, apparently the people in town are very happy too because fireworks are going off! :) (Actually, they have fireworks going off every night...like I was told "Every day is a party!") There is always a celebration going on!
I realized that a week went by without writing about Thanksgiving! So I will share my day with you all now. On Thanksgiving, I had a lesson in the morning at school. After the lesson, I went to my boss' house and had Thanksgiving dinner (lunch). We first had pasta with broccoli as the first course, then turkey, which everyone was amazed we had since most people have small ovens that wouldn't have fit a whole turkey, then broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes (from America!), stuffing (with and without giblets). I was very full!!! It was all very delicious!
After dinner (lunch), I returned home and watched the America's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which takes place in Detroit, with my mom. She was at home on her iPhone and I was on my computer talking to her but with one side my mom and the other side with the parade. She had the TV on at the same time. We were keeping the tradition alive! Except, I didn't have to watch the commercials! :) Thanks to technology for giving us that moment and making it easier to spend the holidays apart.
After the parade finished I returned to work. We had to continue to prepare for the Thanksgiving dinner at the local English pub. We planned a Thanksgiving dinner/Pub Quiz for Thanksgiving evening. We invited everyone at the school. We ended up having around 35-40 people attend. We had a fixed menu with turkey, salad, potatoes and an apple strudel for dessert. While we waited for the food to arrive we began the Thanksgiving Pub Quiz. There were 6 teams and 15 trivia questions about Thanksgiving. I think it turned out great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the evening. We are now planning a Christmas event and hopefully we can get even more people to attend!
Overall, the holidays have arrived and the hustle and bustle is sure to follow! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season! I am sure many of you already have your decorations up and music playing! And eat a candy cane for me! :)
